Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Nami-Nami Easter Brunch 2014

Last Sunday we had a full house again. 28 people, including the kids, celebrating the Spring and enjoying the traditional Nami-Nami Easter brunch. It was a gorgeously sunny and pleasant day, and we ate al fresco.

First, the eggs. To be honest, we only dyed them after the party, but they're still part of the Easter brunch in a way. We used the Estonian way of dyeing eggs with onion skins (read all about it here) for the yellow-brown eggs, and frozen blueberries for the blue eggs. I think they turned out gorgeous, and the kids loved them!

Small rye cups were filled with salmon roe and sour cream (also known as creamy caviar dressing, recipe here).

Wild garlic is in season, so I made some crostini with ricotta and wild garlic spread, served with Estonian cured pork filet.

I did all the prep work on Sunday morning (the kids make sure we wake up rather early :)). However, I did slow-cook a huge Boston butt (2,5 kg) on the previous day, serving the pulled pork at the brunch. The recipe was adapted from this Finnish magazine.

Rosemary and Garlic Roasted Salmon a la In Sock Monkey Slippers. It was a huge salmon, so there was plenty for everybody.

Green fruit saladlooked inviting and spring-like. I omitted the maple syrup, as the kiwis and grapes were sweet enough, and sprinkled some almond slices on top for some extra bite.

Over the years I've got better in delegating. Some friends brought imported strawberries, some oranges for the freshly squeezed orange juice, some brought wine. Some friends volunteered to bring food. And they brought some wonderful dishes.

Our friend Kristiina makes wonderful salads, here's what she brought along this year.

And her husband Paavo baked a big batch of Swedish cardamom twists.

I had also made a small cake, namely gluten-free buckwheat hearts with mocha glaze. Our son Aksel is somewhat sensitive to wheat (and hazelnuts), so I try to make sure there's something on the table that doesn't make his skin all itchy. (If you need more buckwheat inspiration, then check out my buckwheat recipe board on Pinterest.)

Here's another look at the table:

We drank Prosecco and various wines, cold-brewed hibiscus water (the bottle on the left) and black aronia cordial (the jug on the right). Coffee and tea later.What did you have for Easter? I'd love to hear more in the comments!See overviews of our previous Easter brunches:

8 comments:

Boiled ham and eggs is what I had for Easter, because I live in Hungary and that's what one eats then. Apart from the fact that your brunch looks delicious and varied I am very, very envious of the fish and the wild mushrooms you get in your part of the world.